This time last year, Spurs and Villarreal were beating Arsenal in friendlies.
In the summer of 2003, we failed to defeat Peterborough, Barnet and Beveren. That didn’t prevent the Invincibles from being born.
So, for any of my peers, don’t read too much into pre-season results, especially with players having their workloads individually managed depending on what stage they were knocked out of the World Cup.
What you might be concerned by, though, are our performances defensively.
Can Arsenal afford to be without Saliba?
Our manager didn’t need any evidence to already know that not having Saliba for the start of the season is a blow. Yet the very best bosses recognise when there is a problem, and if there is one positive to the goals his team has conceded in the last couple of weeks, it could be that they encourage Andrea Berta to be more aggressive in the search for a defender.
Saliba has so far been able to avoid surgery on his back and instead been ordered to rest. Yet you tend to worry when our medical team doesn’t give a timeframe.
Our first-choice centre-back partnership can’t be replaced. If it could, they wouldn’t be so special.
Our own boss has often said the difference between success and failure can be based on the smallest details.
What was the difference between the champions and the rest last campaign?
The ability to defend better than the rest of the division and how creative our set-piece routines were.
You would assume Nicolas Jover has spent his holidays in the knowledge that opponents will be more prepared for our free-kicks and corners?
Do Arsenal already have enough defensive cover?
Mosquera should have spent this month proving he can be trusted to start every week. The opposite has happened.
That’s not a reflection on the Spaniard. There’s zero disgrace for a 22-year-old not quite being at that level consistently.
I would prefer Calafiori or Hincapie to come into the middle, which I know means a left-footed player on the right side, but neither would need their hand held. Gabriel is at his best focusing on his own game.
White is an option as his partner once Timber is back, but he’s injury-prone himself, and it’s not ideal to ask him to play every few days.
John Stones as a free agent was a no-brainer for me. If he’s good enough for the Italian champions, then he’s good enough to do a job in North London.
Is Konsa an option?
It’s been said earlier this window that our Director of Football simply doesn’t agree with Aston Villa’s valuation of the England international. Yet various outlets are suggesting that the Italian has now accepted that they need to try and find a compromise on the asking price.
If that’s based on what’s happened in pre-season, then those results have been worth it.
If an upgrade in attack doesn’t arrive, we are letting our foot off the throat of our rivals, yet it could be even more costly not to fix the Saliba-shaped hole in our back four.
Have the club come to the conclusion that if they leave themselves light at the back, it could cost them their title?
Dan Smith
What do you think, Gooners? Is another defender now essential for Arsenal, or do Arteta and Berta already have enough options in the squad to cope without Saliba? Let us know in the comments.
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Yes.
And we need more high quality depth wherever gaps exist.
We’re attempting to both retain a league title and make another attempt at the Champions League.
We’re at the pinnacle, and so is our team, in defense and midfield anyway. And to maintain that, we have to continually strengthen in all positions. Going for the best players we can get within whatever financial constraints (and sometimes breaking them).
Definitely, because Saliba will be unavailable for months, Mosquera isn’t consistent enough and both Timber/ White are injury prone
Once Arsenal sign Quansah, I think White will be transfer-listed
If we fail to sign a new defender, I hope Salmon can step up
If we do, then why? We have enough defenders cluttering the bench or stuffing up any half decent attacking move we might be making. Plus young Heaven looks like a good prospect and should be given more opportunities. Consider, Rice is a converted defender and Zubamendi is pretty useless as an attacking midfielder so generally we are only pretty much playing with only four natural attackers. Meanwhile Gyorkes and Harvetz are just wandering around, most times, way off the ball and the entire weight of our attack is then focused on Saka and Martinelli to break well set up defences.. So if there are any remaining funds focus on the attack. It’s not rocket science. Durrrh!
Why?
1. Because if there is even one injury to our right side defenders now, we are into makeshift territory. Title winning strength comes from depth – in our case having a fit Timber and Saliba as first options with White and Mosquera as backups. We’re now playing these two backup players (as good as they may be) in the next four games against strong opponents like Man City, Villa and Chelsea and a Coventry that scored 97 goals in the Championship last season. We don’t even know when Saliba will be fully fit again, might not be till the second half of the season. Timber may be back in time for Villa, but it’s not clear yet, and even then he might not be ready for 90 mins. At least one of the two backups we’re relying on now is very injury prone…
2. Heaven plays for Man Utd, not Arsenal. I assume you mean Marli Salmon. The kid is obviously very talented, but dude, he’s only 16… Throwing him into the furnace of the adult Premier League as a *starter* in a this team is a whole different story to playing in a friendly in pre-season, or getting some minutes in when we’re 3-0 up. It would be an emergency measure. We don’t like emergencies…
3. Zubimendi is not an attacking midfielder, he’s a deep-lying playmaker. Cycles the ball forward to the attacking midfielder (Ødegaard/Eze) or the forwards. Goals and assists aren’t expected to come regularly from his position. He actually performed very well last year on that metric, by the way. At any rate, Rice also plays his position and that will be preferred.
4. We do not want to be forced to play Declan or Zubi as makeshift defenders this season. Declan is not great at right back as we’ve all seen, and we’re defending a title, so we want them to be anchoring our midfield.
5. Our defenders don’t slow down our attack?
6. We need additions in attack ALSO. We need more goals from the forwards this season. Believe it or not, we have the funds for both!
7. If we go in with a shaky defense, and we concede more goals, we then have to get even more goals from attack, of course. So keeping our defense in top shape is also necessary for *winning a league*. As the saying goes…
Say Durr to Arteta and Berta dude
Oh and Heaven doesn’t play for Arsenal …..duhh
.if your going to be rude make sure you don’t make a mistake lol
It makes you look silly
Quality is more important than Quantity
Yes, we need a new defensive player; we don’t know when Timber is fully back, and we can’t trust Ben White to be on his feet for any length of time.
Arsenal should go on and get Konsa; he can play both RCB and RB.
Ben White can be sold in the January window by which time Saliba is fully back, hopefully
Oops to above that should have been Salmon and not Heaven who had already bolted. Amber, you must have enjoyed last seasons bore fest.. So that means Califiori , Masquero, White , Timber, Ncapien and co are useless add ons. They are definitely not wing backs. I don’t think Aryeta’s strategy of scrounging points and relying on other teams to drop theres’ is going to work as well or luckily this time around.
Who said they were useless?
They are injury prone some of them ?
If I said to you Timber and Saliba won’t be back till November/ December can you honestly tell me that you trust White and /or Calafori to be able to play every few days
Because one injury you would be short
Hence what’s the harm bringing in help ,?
Dan,
Can I just say you go on about Arsenal’s injury prone players.
Yet in you’re piece you say we should have signed Stones. Is he not just as injury prone?.
but he would have been one more option and body so it can only help
also I could say the same for Gooners who on one hand want the attack improved but find reasons to say they don’t want VJr, Barcola z Alvarez , Williams etc
Yes Dan,
You’re right he would be one more body. But with you calling out Arsenal players as injury prone, surely we would need to look for said player with a better injury record.
Signing Stones, and then him getting injured and we’re back to square one.
not calling them out at all
explaining to some who are asking why we are looking for a defender
yes of course the likes of Konsa would be better long term
I just thought Stones was a happy medium
Dan,
He’s not a happy medium is he, he to is injury prone. So it goes against what you’re saying about the likes of Calafiori and Timber and White.
If you’re going to get cover, either loan someone, or buy someone. But they must have a better injury record. Otherwise it will be counter productive.
I meant in terms of a cheap option but of course the likes of Konsa makes more sense
and no I disagree having 3 injury prone players would still be better then 2 wouldn’t it
my opinion mate
Dan,
Fare enough it’s you’re opinion. But no it wouldn’t be better having three injury prone player’s compared to two. Because they’d still be injury prone wouldn’t they.
If were going to bring some one in, they must have a good injury record. That’s why Stones is not a good idea, even in the short term.
I tell you what Dan, Stones is at Inter Milan I believe I’m correct in saying, lets see how fit he stays for them shall we.
I hope he does stay fit by the way, I don’t wish ill on any player. But lets just see.
well no because I would assume they wouldn’t all be injured at the same time so one more option is logically better then what we have as it’s one one more but of course I rather wr sign a Konsa
Dan,
Wouldn’t it be better to have a player who isn’t injury prone?.
yeah I said that lol
I was just thinking of a cheap alternative for those who argued that once Saliba / Timber are back it’s a waste of a signing
but of course I prefer the likes of Konsa
Dan, That’s why I think the loan of a player would be better, in the event of Timber and Saliba’s return the replacement would eventually go back to his club.
yeah but if you get a Konsa you then just let White go next summer
it’s that odd to have two players for each role especially if your playing like 60 games a season
so at moment you got
Calfori / Hicap LB
White /.Timber RB
Gabriel / Saliba / Mosquera ….so I don’t see the harm
Do Arteta and Berta already have enough options in the squad to cope without Saliba?
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Of course not. Saliba is a MASSIVE hole we cannot fill. Asking Mosquera and Salmon to do it is lunacy. Saliba is the Cadillac of defenders. Covers so much ground effortlessly.
Looks like we are going c0ck heavy in the defensive apartment again .
I expect the same style football as last season . Cannot wait
I agree, the football was functional at best and drab most of tge time. BUT I think we are sh!++!ng ourselves over Saliba and Timber. For me that can not be resolved with cover, it needs a proper replacement. I live in hope for the attack, which depends on the possibility of Jesus, Martinelli and Zubimendi being sold and replaced with Osimhen/Alvarez, Yildiz/Barcola and Scott/Hinshelwood, not necessarily those players but they are in the mix. Any of those above would be an improvement on the way we play in the future. It is a case of seeing what happens in the market these next few weeks. We may end up with some of those still at the club and lesser lights in.
I’m predicting Guimaraes creates a more attacking left midfield this season, which should help make us more attractive. He’s like the replacement for Xhaka we’ve been missing from squads the last few seasons. Ødegaard has also looked sharper in preseason. Throw in a striker like Osimhen, and suddenly it’s a whole different kettle of fish…
Is it though .
I don’t understand what Arsenal is turning into, our attack is seriously blunt. All through our preseason, Gyokeres, Jesus and Havertz were bang average at best, would have used the word useless though. Martinelli and Madueke have issues with end product. If we go into the season with this group of attackers, we might be in serious trouble considering the way our competitors are improving. Before talking of replacement for Saliba who I think has cover already in the squad, they need to address the attacks ASAP. Swap Gyokeres for Osimhen, Martinelli for Alvarez, Jesus, Nelson and Viera to be sold to free up spaces and funds, oh and Kepa to be moved on ASAP. My thoughts
Nothing wrong with having thoughts but your list is long and not straight forward
The season finished 3 months ago and a World Cup intervened with tired bodies going into it, playing up to the finish in some cases having limited relaxation and already back in training. The players that have been on display in pre season are a group at a different level of preparedness
Two things can be true at the same time… we need defensive strength to help ensure we don’t ship too many GA, and better attacking play to help increase GF.
Points are points, and dropping points because of an under strength defense works out to be about as bad as not gaining them from an under strength attack over the course of a title push season…
I think another quality center back is a sound investment. We need to cover Saliba’s absence for who knows how long. We can offload in January if needed, but there is a big drop off from Saliba to Mosquera. I would play Timber there for an extended period if only we could rely on him and White remaining fit.
I just wish we’d hurry up about it, and get onto them forward signings
Martinell not being on bench must mean it’s close as surely wouldn’t sell him without a replacement
We need a right back defender and a sub goalie to seal the title early
lol the arrogance
how early you going for
Please help us in scanning through history books and tell us the earliest recorded time the Champions ascertained themselves of the title